Ahhh, the autumn season. This is the time of year many look forward to. The air is getting crisp, the leaves are changing to beautiful shades of red, orange and yellow, the harvest is coming in, and Saturdays are filled with college football games. Its also the time of year the days get shorter and we start to spend more time in the dark. No wonder that its also the time of year for all things goulish and macabre. I must admit that although I'm not a big fan of horror movies, I can't resist settling in on a dark October night to watch a good ghost story. It just seems to get me in the mood for Halloween. One reason I'm not an afficionado of the scary of movie is that they just don't seem to scare me much anymore. I guess I've become too pragmatic in my old age and what seemed creepy and suspenseful when I was younger, just doesn't faze me. I don't get the adrenaline rush and sit up on the edge of my seat like I used to.
But I have to admit that this Halloween season I found myself scared out of my wits. No, its not because we're once again haunted by the specter of the BCS system, although that does send a chill down my spine. I'm scared because of the following quote I read from a series of essays written in the late 19th century and compiled by famous playwright and avid socialist George Bernard Shaw. The essays are titled the Fabian Essays on Socialism, and were an authoritative source on how to acheive socialism through a slow and drawn out process of gradual change.
Before sharing the quote that chilled me to the bone, let me give some very quick background on Fabian Socialism. The Fabians are a group of English socialists who believed that rather than acheiving socialist rule through revolution, such as the approach advocated by some and adopted by Lenin in the Russian revolution of 1917, it could be acheived by slow, methodical change over a long period of time. The society was named for the Roman General Fabius who won battles through long, drawn-out engagements of attrition rather than through heavy conflict. Ultimately, the objective of the Fabian Socialists is identical to that of other socialist philosophies, including communism, but simply advocates a different set of tactics for acheiving that objective.
Anyway, getting back to our tale of fright, as I was doing some background reading I came across the following statement about how the fabian approach can be used to undermine a capitalist system and achieve socialstic ends.
"The private capitalist, however, will still be in business, producing and distributing on his own account in competition with the communal organization, which at present will have occupied only part of the industrial field. But. . . these private enterprises will be carried on under circumstances of ever-increasing difficulty. . . After a while the private producers will disappear, not because there will be any law against individualist production, but because they will not pay."
What, you ask, is so frightening about this statement? Well, let me explain by translating this statement using language a bit more familiar to our current national dialogue. Try this on for size.
"The private health insurance provider, however, will still be in business issuing insurance packages in competition with the public option, which at present will have occupied only part of the industry. But. . . . these private health insurance providers will operate under circumstances of ever-increasing difficulty. . . After a while the private health insurance providers will disappear, not because there will be any law against private insurance, but because they will not be able to make money."
We're all painfully aware of the ongoing debate around the future of healthcare in our country. Almost everyone has an opinion either for or against the proposals currently circulating in Washington. Whatever people may feel about the current state of healthcare or the need for reform, it is important to understand that the central aspect of this debate has very little to do with healthcare or insuring those in our country who don't currently have coverage. The core of the current healthcare debate is the expansion of governmental control.
Over the last couple of weeks liberal Senators have insisted that they will not support a healthcare bill that does not include a public option. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has replaced the public option that had temporarily been removed from the legislation. The rationale our elected representatives have provided for including a public option is that it is necessary to introduce competition into the marketplace. This is an explanation that borders on complete absurdity when considering how a market actually works in a free enterprise system. Rather than fostering competition, the presence of a government entity can only eliminate private options. How can an organization that must create shareholder value and earn profit compete with an entity that can run at perennial losses and be continually subsidized by tax payer proceeds? It is clear that the insistence of a public option in the healthcare industry is not intended to spur competition, it is intended to acheive a single payer system in which all healthcare will be controlled by the government.
It is enlightening, infuriating, and frightening to see that the tactic being used by those in power is not new. It is directly out of the playbook developed by the fabians over a century ago.
Take a few minutes to watch the following video clip. You'll see even more clearly that the intent is not to improve our healthcare situation, but rather to gain governmental control over a vast portion of our economy. If this happens, the reach of government into our lives and the suspension of individual liberty will be immense.
As we consider those elements threatening our liberty today, we must see the current battle for what it is. One of the underhanded tactics of the ages is to keep people from seeing the true nature of the battle. In our nation today, there is a fundamental struggle occurring between the forces of freedom and the forces of tyranny. It is preserving the America founded by inspired men, characterized by free markets and individual liberty, or it is transitioning to a new America characterized by socialism and pervasive government control. .Those wishing to change America, however, are taking great care to hide their intentions. We must take note that what is happening today, as exemplified by the current healthcare debate, is nothing more than a method of converting a capatilistic nation to socialism.
I've outgrown being scared by Hollywood's tales of fright, because as much as I try to suspend disbelief, I know its all make-believe. It just takes the edge off and keeps my adrenaline levels and heart rate in check. But this horror story of liberty being lost has me shaking in my boots. But this can still be a story with a happy ending if we stand up now in defense of our liberty.
Thanks,
Richard
References:
- Fabian Essays on Socialism, Doubleday & Co., New York p. 195. Also found online at http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=298
- The Fabian Society London School of Economics and Political Science http://www.lse.ac.uk/resources/LSEHistory/fabian.htm
Monday, November 2, 2009
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3 comments:
Thanks Richard. Thank you for continuing to fight and for taking this seriously. Am I happy with health care right now? Absolutely not. But what is being tossed around in Washington is worse and will only continue to make things worse and as you say, there is so much more to this. It isn't just health care.....it is the wolf in sheeps clothing and when the wolf finally reveals itself. Oh ya! It's frightening but it will be too late so we need to take the time to recognize the "enemy" if you will now and protect our constitution.
This post is AWESOME! You show here what is really happening... and at a terrifying rate. My husband and I are experiencing the deceptive tactics of government - causing erosion of small businesses - right now - in this very same way. Governmental programs - institutions are not taxed and charged fees as the general population are when they start a business. In addition, governmental agencies are subsidized by tax payers dollars.
Competition is good and wonderful... but when the design is to make it so difficult for independent businesses to survive that competition becomes obsolete... there are major problems! Government needs to get out of the way! Free enterprise is the way - true free enterprise, with true competition that can last and is productive for all those in competition, while encouraging low prices and high quality for the consumers - it is a "win" "win" situation; this is one of the reasons people colonized here in the first place.
Governmental healthcare will monopolize healthcare and be the ruin of healthcare! We will end up in long lines, waiting for crummy service if this goes through... and the elderly will never get to the front of the lines - by design. Many will be forced to wait to die - by design. It is so appalling that many simply do not allow themselves to see what is plainly in front of them; they, like the Tory colonists of old, just can't believe that anyone would be so cruel (especially since the cruel are so clever and cunning, and as you have shown they pretend very well, to do for the people what the people want and need... just long enough to make the change that will lead to the people's ruin. Obama is not too much different than Hitler was - he is a gross shame to our country.
OK - I am getting a little too heated... I must stop here. I only pray that people will open their eyes and stop pretending that "all is well;" IT IS NOT. And as is so well stated in our Constitution: "when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
It is our right and duty to do all that we can to safeguard the freedoms and security that are being very carefully and sneakily taken from us..., freedom of healthcare, freedom of free enterprise, security of true competition. It is imperative that we not allow the phrase so given of our lying leaders of today "for your security" keep us from realizing that in the end, security (and freedom) is what they are truly striving to take away.
I hope I have not said too much (looks like a post, not a comment...) I will get off my soap box now and just say this to any readers in my reach...
If you want to retain your freedom to choose your own health care, and do not want you and your children to live under a monopoly in the next generation... take action; fight for your rights; sign petitions to oppose such socialistic and tyrannical plans; educate yourself well as to what those running for office stand for so you can vote with wisdom; and remember that this constitution was inspired to wise and good God fearing Patriots, by God himself; fight for the laws that will retain it!
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